January 16, 2013

Deafness Cured by Re-Growing Ear Hair

Deafness cured by re-growing ear hair … in mouse only for
the time being.

Ear Hair Cells via
Harvard Medical School

This experimental therapy
has currently been tried on a mouse only.

We hear sound because of ear hair and when the ear hairs get
damaged due to noise (e.g. hearing loud music) or other factors, then the
hearing suffers. The ear hair, normally, do not regenerate n humans and other
mammals.

At Harvard
Medical School, an experimental drug applied to ear stem cells caused the
ear hair to regenerate restoring hearing in a mouse.

These supporting cells turned into new hair cells upon
treatment with the drug. Replacing hair cells improved hearing in the mice, and
the improved hearing could be traced to the areas in which supporting cells had
become new hair cells.